


he who can't see, he who can't speak

by chenkun



Category: Aldnoah.Zero (Anime)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 22:00:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4852043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chenkun/pseuds/chenkun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reality isn’t as beautiful as Inaho thinks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	he who can't see, he who can't speak

**Author's Note:**

> It was an idea that I had to write out, but I wanted to keep it as vague and as mysterious as possible because it was the way I wanted it to be portrayed.
> 
> More will be written with the notes at the end.

Inaho is sixteen and his favourite pastime is to sit by the old bench at the rundown playground and watch the kids play over on The Other Side.

He has a little over 30 minutes to watch the kids on The Other Side, but he stops when he hears a short shriek and a few tumbling noises. He looks over his shoulder and watches a strange blonde boy flap his dry lips around in worry as the oranges tumble out from the hole on the grocery bag. He doesn’t move, and observes the blonde boy intensely.

He watches the blondie touch the wet pavement of the sidewalk and watches him slowly caress the floor until he touches an orange. He does the same thing once, twice and it is thrice when Inaho notices the unusual white colors in his eyes. He processes the condition of the boy and proceeds to pick up the remaining oranges that has rolled by Inaho’s feet.

“Eh?” The blonde boy jerks his head up, "I’m so sorry! Am I blocking your way? Ah! Thank you so much!”

Inaho watches the blonde boy fumble around with the oranges and he proceeds to bend down to meet him at eye level. He doesn’t respond when the blonde boy asks a few questions and he silently repacks the oranges into another grocery bag.

It is then Inaho takes Slaine’s hands, who flinches at the sudden contact and traces a few lines across his palm. Inaho repeats the action a few times until he sees the change in Slaine’s expression.

“Eh? No! I couldn’t trouble anyone over here! I’ll be fine!” Slaine panics a little.

Inaho traces a few more lines. _I’ll walk you home_.

Before Slaine can panic more, Inaho traces more lines. _It’s alright._

They walk down the wet streets, the sky slowly turning into a shade of orange and blue, the sun slowly swallowing itself in the clouds and Slaine pushes a bag of oranges into Inaho’s arms. “Thank you for today!” Slaine chirps as he watches him run into the gates of The Other Side.

Inaho doesn't watch the kids play today.

-

The second time Inaho meets the strange blondie is two days later, when he sits on the bench and watches the kids play football on The Other Side. Inaho approaches the fence and throws an orange at the blondie, only to have it hit him right on the head.

Inaho doesn’t feel guilty.

The blonde picks up the orange, “Eh? A-Are you the one who helped me the other day? Where are you?”

The blondie looks around and Inaho responds by a quick shake of the fence. The sounds of the metal hitting the poles gives the blonde a direction to walk in. He reaches out and caresses the fence gently. He walks slowly along the fence and stops when he touches Inaho’s fingers.

“Ah, thank you for the other day!”

Inaho taps him on the cheek, the blonde boy laughs a little and there’s something strangely beautiful about that. He takes the blonde’s hands and traces alphabets on his palm.

_I-N-A-H-O_

“I..na..ho…” Slaine reads out slowly, “Is your name Inaho-san?”

Inaho responds with a pinch on the cheek.

The blonde jerks back in shock, a hint of pink decorating his cheeks and he responds, “My name is Slaine! It’s nice to meet you, Inaho-san!”

The blonde now has a name, Inaho thinks. Inaho sits on the floor, by the fence and leads Slaine by the wrist to motion him to do the same. Inaho notices the bruises on his arms and the weight he’s lost, he wonders if he can do anything about that. He sits in silence as he watches Slaine sings about himself, Inaho wonders if there’s anything as beautiful as that in the world.

-

Inaho feels like an idiot sometimes.

He shivers from the cold as he waits by the fence and shoves his frozen fingertips into his warm pockets.

“Are you stupid?!” Inaho brightens up at the sound of what seemed like a lullaby to his ears, “It’s freezing out here!”

Slaine reaches out and touches Inaho for the first time, voluntarily. He touches the lines of his ears, caresses along the bridge of his nose and traces the shape of his lips. He chuckles a little, “You’re freezing, stupid.”

Inaho traces a few words on his arm. _I just wanted to see you._

“I have to go soon,” Slaine says, palms still warming Inaho’s cheeks. Inaho notices the faded bruises and also notices the bandages Slaine tries to hide. His eyebrows furrow and Inaho traces more words.

_What do they do to you over there?_

Slaine drops his hands and Inaho wishes the fence isn’t there in between them. He wishes it doesn’t exist.

“You don’t have to know.”

Inaho wants to wrap Slaine in his embrace, but he doesn’t. He can’t.

-

Reality isn’t as beautiful as Inaho thinks.

_Let’s run. Let’s leave everything behind._

Slaine shakes his head, “You can’t. You have your part in the government.”

Inaho kisses Slaine’s palms. He didn’t need words. _I have you._

“I can’t escape from here. They’re always watching the entrance. There’s no way we can run far.”

Inaho takes a step back from the fence.

_I’ll catch you, no matter what happens._

_-_

The train arrives late, a few minutes more than they expect it to and Inaho nudges Slaine awake. Slaine stirs and Inaho stares straight at him. “It’s time to go,” Slaine sits up, finger entwined with Inaho and Inaho pulls him off the platform bench with a gentle tug. Slaine follows him through the electronic doors and the air rushes past them and they’re leaving everything behind to run away. Slaine smiles a little.

“This is what we want, isn’t it?” Slaine asks.

Inaho reassures him with a gentle squeeze.

**Author's Note:**

> Just to clarify the questions you have;
> 
> The Other Side - is basically what humans called the world on the other side of the fence. It is where the crippled, the useless and the weak live in. As you can see, Slaine is blind. Hence, he is thrown on The Other Side where humans are deemed useless and is looked down upon. 
> 
> As to why Inaho is not in The Other Side even though he's a mute, it is because his intelligence is too high to be deemed useless by society and this causes an exception. However, it is precisely because of this, that Inaho is bound tightly by the government and has no freedom. 
> 
> This is to portray Slaine who wants to be "human" to the world even as a blind person and Inaho who just simply loves how Slaine loves the world even if the world seems to be against him. 
> 
> I hope this clarify things.


End file.
